Archivo del blog

The amount of good performances at the Latin Grammys’ gala shrinks every year, but we’re not too cool to watch, it’s a great night to zoom out of our Latin hipster world and see the industry as a whole. The award show (on Univision) keeps boosting its ratings, and those scores are ultimately the determining factors on who gets to perform at the show. Consider this, Univision is firing Despierta America’s hosts one at a time (like every week), they even said farewell to Cristina Saralegui. Why? Deep breath, because they want to appeal to a new generation of viewers (insert skeptic-offended emoticon), I’ll leave it at that. Every year there are a couple of performances to feel proud of, this year, it was all about Choc Quib Town.

The Colombian powerhouse trio might have lost to freaking Alexander Acha last year (for Best New Artist), but they came back for an award, and they got to perform their anthem “De Donde Vengo Yo” on the telecast. To us, they stole the show. They owned the stage like no one else, worshiped the moment with skillful and nonstop energy. Plus, no one looked hotter on that red carpet, ok, perhaps Latin Grammy winner Ely Guerra. All the cool, interesting categories are awarded at the preshow (broadcasted at the Latin Grammys website), the trio received the award for Best Alternative Song (“De Donde Vengo Yo”), flooded in tears, it was simply overwhelming. They emphasized the importance of the award to all the Afro-Latinos in the world; Los Rakas said it a few months ago, “the day you see the Latin Grammys with a lot of black people, ‘cause you know we’ve made it… Latin America is still trying to hide us.”

Other cool winners include Ely Guerra (Alternative Album), Alex Cuba (New Artist), Cerati (Best Rock Album & Song), Mala Rodriguez (Urban Song) and Julieta Venegas (Music Video). Taking a trophy from LARAS shouldn’t be the most significant accomplishment for any artist, but it does great things for emerging talents. As I’m writing this, I’m reading twits from people like Jorge Ramos and Tommy Torres trying to figure about this amazing performers. It’s this kind of moment that makes the Latin Grammys more tolerable, although they will always have a special campy-pleasure space in our hearts, heck, on the red carpet special they even confused ChocQuibTown’s Goyo with Concha Buika!

A couple of notes from the show (we’re not going to lie, we missed much of the show ‘cause it’s NBC’s Comedy Thursday, Community & The Office are just too good to not watch:

No one mentioned Cerati on the show, epic fail.

Lucero and Eugenio Derbez are still annoying; Angelica Vale’s segment was way more entertaining.

Placido Domingo, you classy.

Winners, I understand the excitement, but realize there’s a microphone, you don’t need to scream.

You particularly don’t need to scream “Hola Latinos!”

Did Aida Cuevas really win Best Tango Album? Did she really deserve to have the first Tango spot on the show’s history?

Skip the Ranchero category, Chente won’t show up, again.

La Mala Rodriguez, you forgot your lines, but you still rock.

When are the Latin Grammys going to take place in Latin America?

The JLO-Marc Anthony royalty vibe a la JayZ-Beyonce actually works.

Kany Garcia, if you’re gonna be a sore looser and diss on Nelly Furtado, do it right.

Too much Mexican.

Remember, if you want to win a Grammy, you must register your album.

If you’re in the recording business and want better albums to win, become part of LARAS and vote.

10
comments
:

You forgot to mention Camila... ups!I´m still trying to understand how they won 3 grammys... The Latin Grammys winners are basically a rotation between Alejandro Sanz, Juanes and Shakira. This year was Sanz´s turn...oh and Juan Luis Guerra always win, always.Big loser was Bebe.La Mala Rodriguez winning over Daddy Yankees double nomination was just great and she had been long overdue.Too bad Banda de Turistas didn´t win. I believe Cerati´s award was for kind of lame, but he deserves it. And finally,Ely Guerra winning alternative album... Genius.

I didn't know Choc Quib Town and for me they truly save the night! great group. I gotta admit que soy dominicano, so when I here a good tambora in international stages it always gives me some chills, so I believe Juan Luis did a job.

Thanks for the sermon almighty Fonogramaticos Hipster Club. Some of us had been saying this since before the inception of the Latin Grammys 11 years or so ago. But, I guess it takes a bunch of poseurs to bring the point home. Cerati wins were deserved except for the packaging design award. Really lame. All the winners, including ChocQuibTown are more mainstream than you think, yeah, that includes Ely and Julieta (both started indie and punk and then what?). Only award I agreed totally with was Alex Cuba. Great musician, great person. The Latin Grammys became the mirror image of the regular Grammys and that is sad, IMHO. Does it matter? While the music industry still manipulates the attention of the masses, yes it will. I hope one day, independence means just that. Give your own awards and screw the BS of award shows like this one. Oh, and Camila? WTF?